Common Core delay planned as part of state budget

ALBANY Legislative leaders and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are looking to delay the implementation of tougher testing standards for students as part of budget negotiations.

Cuomo and the state Legislature have sought a two year to three-year delay in the Common Core testing standards, which were implemented last year and led to lower test results. Parents, teachers and students have railed against the tests.

The timing is critical. The first round of tests start next week, while the state's fiscal year starts Tuesday.

"We are discussing doing something before the first round of tests, which I think is April 3," Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said late Tuesday. "So probably within the budget."

Cuomo has pushed for a delay in the standards, as have legislators, but Cuomo hasn't wanted to delay using the test results as part of new teacher evaluations.

Silver said no final decisions have been made on what the changes would be.

Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, told theCapital website on Tuesday that the moratorium could be for "at least three years."

State Education Commissioner John King wrote a letter Monday to school administrators in advance of testing.

"The best preparation for testing is good teaching," King wrote. "In my visits across New York in the past four years, I have seen many inspired and passionate teachers share new lesson plans that help students learn to problem-solve, think critically, read analytically and communicate clearly. That's what these new assessments measure."